‘Metacognition refers to our ability to reflect on and evaluate our thinking. The capacity to reflect on past events and evaluate existing knowledge enables us to optimise our predictions about the future, leading to changes in behaviour. In clinical psychology, the metacognitive model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) highlights the role of maladaptive metacognition in the onset and maintenance of symptoms, as opposed to placing an emphasis on the features of the event memory itself. The model suggests that dysfunctional metacognition about one’s thinking and memory perpetuates cyclical and maladaptive processing of an event, whereby the individual views the self as vulnerable or broken and the world as dangerous and unpredictable. Post-traumatic stress symptoms may arise as a result of an individual believing that their post-event reactions are an indication of mental instability (e.g., “I can’t control my worrying and it is dangerous for me”), and/or can be perpetuated by beliefs that threat monitoring is a necessary coping skill to avoid exposure to another negative event (e.g., “Worrying helps me avoid danger”). Thus, the ability to reflect on whether a particular percept, decision, or memory is accurate or inaccurate—metacognition— is a central component of mental health.’
Reference:
Hot metacognition: poorer metacognitive efficiency following acute but not traumatic stress
https://lnkd.in/ehRQ_eBw
Metacognition, or ‘thinking about thinking’ can perpetuate mental health problems, but can also enable an individual frame things in a different way, good meaningful psychotherapy helps individuals change their patterns of thought, so they can live more fulfilling lives.
Have you ever observed your thoughts? Have you ever challenged them? What story do you tell yourself about your life?
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